Leanne Cowie, drummer for The Scientists, has died

Leanne Cowie, powerhouse drummer in Aussie punk legends The Scientists during the ’80s, has died. No cause of death has been announced; she was in her 60s.

The Scientists formed in 1978 but Leanne didn’t come in contact with the band till 1984, first as their tour manager and then taking over the drum kit when Brett Rixon left. “I can’t remember exactly how it happened,” Leanne told Goldmine in 2010, “but I do know that after playing some songs with Kim and Tony Thewlis [the guitarist at the time] it was suggested that I join the group. Of course, I jumped at the chance and now I’m not sure I was being brave, stupid or both. My first public performance was in front of a hostile crowd of screaming Banshees fans in Preston. I remember being so nervous before going on, when the enormity of what I was doing suddenly dawned on me. I know I was terrible, but at least I could keep time. I couldn’t do a drum roll or anything like that.”

Cowie remained the band’s drummer till they broke up in the late-’80s and made an album with The Scientists’ Kim Salmon as Kim + Leanne in 2014. She rejoined the Saints in the late 2010s and played on their 2021 album Negativity.

Rest easy Leanne.